They consolidate strategic positions across southern fronts while launching missile and drone attacks on targets in Saudi Arabia, as Sana’a declares a “capital for capital” response.

SANA’A — Yemeni armed forces loyal pushed deeper into the southern fronts of Ta’izz and western Lahj, seizing strategic high ground overlooking key Saudi supply routes, as Sana’a announced it has activated a “capital for capital” retaliation equation against Saudi Arabia following a wave of missile and drone strikes on Riyadh and Aramco facilities.      
Field sources told the Lebanese daily Al-Akhbar that Ansarullah-led Yemeni forces, after securing Jabal Jurdan and capturing the Al-Alqama and Shirira fronts near the Rasin mountain range, continued their advance in the al-Shamaytin front. 
The Rasin range serves as the southern gateway to Ta’izz governorate, giving Sanaa’s forces fire control over supply routes in the al-Mudarraba fronts, the sources said.
Ansarullah-led forces has consolidated control over a series of strategic positions in Lahj province, including most of the mountains in the Kahboub area — Jabal Hajija, Jabal Qala, Tabat Mufattah and the al-Ardi, al-Mahwala, al-Aghbara, al-Mashawla, al-Bakra, Wadi al-Mudarraba and al-Saqiya areas. 
The advances followed intense clashes with Saudi-backed mercenaries, extending to Jabal Habashi in western Ta’izz, al-Mawaset and al-Shamaytin districts, and the outskirts of al-Mudarraba and Ras al-Ara.
Saudi-backed groups had attempted to stage a counterattack from mountainous positions in Lahj, approximately 35 kilometers from Bab al-Mandab, against Dhubab east of Mokha to wrest back control of the strait. Saudi Arabia mobilized several brigades with heavy air support, but the attempt yielded no gains, allowing Ansarullah to consolidate its positions.
A military source in Sana’a told Al-Akhbar that Yemeni armed forces operations against all military infrastructure in southern Saudi Arabia are continuing, and that Sana’a is now applying a retaliatory policy of “siege for siege, escalation for escalation, and capital for capital”. 
The source described the recent operation — using dozens of ballistic missiles and drones against military bases and airports used in the aggression against Yemen in Riyadh — as the largest and most intense since the war began, lasting more than 24 hours.
Saudi coalition spokesman Turki al-Maliki acknowledged in a statement that in addition to Riyadh, the areas of Bisha, al-Kharj, Yanbu, Farasan and Taif were targeted by Yemeni missile attacks. 
Saudi activists published images showing damage to King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh and widespread fires at Saudi oil facilities in the Yanbu area.
Yemeni Armed Forces spokesman Brigadier General Yahya Saree said Sunday that Saudi warplanes had carried out 28 airstrikes over the previous 24 hours across Ta’izz, al-Jawf and Marib provinces, using F-15 and Typhoon aircraft taking off from Khamis Mushait and Taif airbases, bringing the total number of airstrikes since the escalation began to 760. 
Saudi airstrikes on telecommunications towers in al-Jawf killed four workers and wounded three others, according to Yemeni media based in Sana’a.

 In a speech marking the 12th anniversary of the September 21 revolution, Ansarullah leader Abdulmalik al-Houthi said the revolution achieved “freedom and independence for our people on the basis of their faith identity and liberation from American arrogance”. 
He stressed that Yemen’s demands are legitimate rights — ending the aggression, lifting the blockade and halting the occupation — and reaffirmed Yemen’s steadfast support for the Palestinian cause.
Al-Houthi also addressed the targeting of Mecca, stating: “We do not consider Mecca to be a Saudi emirate, and the Saudi is not a competent authority to use it as a shield against a country here or there; it is an Islamic landmark and we are concerned with its sanctity and defense.” 
He called on the Yemeni people to continue mobilization, maintain high vigilance, and build military and security capabilities.